1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors and more particularly to insulation displacement contact terminals.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
In order to further miniaturize various electronic systems, insulation displacement contact terminals have been substituted for soldered connections in a number of applications. Such terminals are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,050,760 and 4,385,794. In such terminals, insulated wires to be connected are inserted into contact channels having opposed transverse projections known as dimples. These dimples remove insulation from the wires so inserted to allow electrical connection between these wires and the terminal. Heretofore these contact dimples have been formed by a process of inwardly shearing the side walls of the contact channels.
The effectiveness of the connection with those contact dimples is dependent, at least in part, on the amount of pressure applied to connected wires by the contact dimples. A continuing need, therefore, exists for means by which pressure applied by such dimples on the connecting wire can be increased.